Ki-Adi-Mundi

When Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn reported a Sith attack to the Jedi Council during the events surrounding the Battle of Naboo, Ki-Adi-Mundi expressed shock at the notion. "Impossible," he remarked, "the Sith have been extinct for a millennium."

For its failure to detect the Sith menace in time, the Jedi first suffered the loss of one its greatest Masters, Qui-Gon. Ki-Adi-Mundi voyaged to Naboo to attend Jinn's somber funeral, and was also present at the jubilant celebration that marked the liberation of Naboo.

A decade later, Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi continued to serve on the Council. He was present during one of the gravest crises ever to face the Jedi order: the Separatist movement that threatened to split the Republic. Like most in the order, Ki-Adi-Mundi refused to believe that the movement's architect, former Jedi Count Dooku, was behind its more violent actions. As a political idealist trained in Jedi philosophies, such acts would be beneath Dooku, Ki-Adi-Mundi reasoned.

Ki-Adi-Mundi was not the only Jedi to be mistaken about Dooku's limits. The former Jedi oversaw the scheduled execution of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Senator Amidala. The sudden arrival of a Jedi taskforce -- including Ki-Adi-Mundi -- rescued the three captives. Ki-Adi-Mundi and several of his fellow Jedi Council members did battle with Geonosian and Separatist droid forces. Many Jedi died that day, though Ki-Adi-Mundi was one of the survivors.

When Republic reinforcements arrived, Ki-Adi-Mundi hopped aboard a Republic gunship, and later led units of clone troopers into the thick of combat. The war-scorched flats of Geonosis became the first battleground of the devastating Clone Wars.

Like his fellow Jedi, Ki-Adi-Mundi became a general in the Clone Wars, leading clone trooper infantry on campaigns scattered throughout the galaxy. He was instrumental in the battle to retake Geonosis from the Separatists. Ki-Adi-Mundi commanded a clone trooper battalion led by Clone Commander Jet. After his gunship was shot down during landing, Ki-Adi-Mundi was forced to march his troops overland to rendezvous with the other Jedi and clone teams.

Trusting his instincts and his lightsaber, Ki-Adi-Mundi led Commander Jet and the troops through the catacombs, fighting off Geonosian drones defending the passages with sonic weapons. Clones using flamethrowers cleared the way, allowing Ki-Adi-Mundi to link up with Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano at the invasion force’s landing zone.

After Ahsoka Tano’s medical frigate was infested with Geonosian brain worms, Anakin interrogated the Geonosian leader Poggle the Lesser to discover how to stop the parasites. Ki-Adi-Mundi and Luminara Unduli were disturbed by the brutal methods Anakin used to extract information from Poggle.

When Darth Maul took over Death Watch and overthrew Mandalore’s government, Duchess Satine appealed to her old friend Obi-Wan Kenobi for help. But Ki-Adi-Mundi reluctantly observed that there was little the Jedi could do: Satine had maintained neutrality in the Clone Wars and the Separatists were not involved in the crisis on Mandalore.

After Ahsoka was accused of playing a role in the bombing of the Jedi Temple, Admiral Tarkin demanded that the Jedi hand her over to the Republic for a military trial. The Council resisted Tarkin, with Obi-Wan insisting that the Order stand with Ahsoka. But Ki-Adi-Mundi grimly noted the evidence connecting her with the attack.

Ki-Adi-Mundi took part in the Jedi tribunal investigating the sedition charges against Ahsoka, and reviewed the evidence against her in the Chamber of Judgment. After her expulsion from the Jedi order, Ki-Adi-Mundi witnessed her military trial – and was one of the Jedi Masters present when she was invited to rejoin the Order. He praised her fortitude in seeking to prove her innocence, and was aghast when Ahsoka instead chose to leave the Jedi ranks.

During the Outer Rim Sieges, Ki-Adi-Mundi stayed in touch with Coruscant and the Jedi Council. He grew wary of Chancellor Palpatine's bids for increased executive power. When the upper tier of the Jedi Council -- himself, Yoda and Mace Windu -- discussed a possible course of action to remove the Chancellor, Ki-Adi-Mundi advised that the Jedi Order would have to take control of the Senate in the interim, to ensure a secure transition of power.

The transition never happened due to the machinations of the Chancellor. Palpatine initiated Order 66, the ultimate endgame contingency against the Jedi. The order, transmitted secretly to the clone commanders spread across the galaxy, identified the Jedi as traitors to the Republic. Commander Bacara and his marines opened fire on Ki-Adi-Mundi while on a mission to Mygeeto. Though the Jedi attempted to put up a defense, he was overwhelmed by the gunfire and killed.